Jeff Dion sent an email to supporters this evening saying that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the 51st District. After the discovery of his gay.com personals ad, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. From his email:

It is now clear that if I continued my campaign some on the other side would create a toxic atmosphere that would make it impossible for us to have a real debate about the important issues facing our Commonwealth. It would require a Herculean effort to get out our message in the face of their coming attacks. It is an effort that I, as a single dad, just can not make, so I am withdrawing my name for the nomination.

From the tone of the letter, it seems this wasn’t entirely his choice, which is consistent with what I’ve been hearing about pressure from DPVA and Earnestine Jenkins. With Paul Nichols now as the nominee for the 51st District, the dynamic shifts a bit as he doesn’t seem to have obvious baggage and has the ability to self-finance his campaign to a large degree. Nichols may have developer ties and a number of disgruntled former opponents from divorce cases he has handled, so he’s not unassailable as a candidate, but he certainly is a better general election candidate than Jeff Dion ever could be.

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You have got to go to Virginia Progressive (you can get there through a link at NLS) and read Dion’s full statement. What a douchebag! It looks like he finagled ridiculous glowing statements about himself from Mark Warner and Tim Kaine before he would acquiesce and withdraw. Unbelievable.

Dems have miscalculated. Although Jeff is gay, he was otherwise a very good candidate. He was perfect on the issues, especially growth. Just because Paul Nichols is a new candidate does not mean that he has no liabilities. He is also an arrogant sleazy divorce lawyer and developer. He is also inexperienced as a candidate. Ernestine and John Jenkins–and their developer buddies– are leading you down the path of further destruction. They are the reason the Democratic party has self-destructed.

I hope that Anon 7:25’s comments about Paul Nichols are correct. Knowing the man socially, he strikes me as a pretty nice guy. As for being a “sleazy divorce lawyer,” one vacillates between noting the redundancy, and noting that at least half of the people involved in such proceedings walk away thinking that at least one “sleazy divorce lawyer” was involved in the proceedings… on the other side. I note that he seems to be well-liked and well-respected among those of his colleagues on the bench and in the Bar. Perceived “arrogance” is an occupational hazard in a litigator.

But Dion is “perfect on the issues”?!?!? Pro-homosexual “marriage”; pro-abortion; pro-tax increases.

Now that Jeff has bowed out of the Democratic primary in the 51st HoD district, here is a this note to let you all (no matter what side you’re on) know that there are those of us who remember Jeff Dion when he was a member of the Franconia-Springfield Jayceees. Around the time Gladys Keating was finally defeated by Tom Bolvin, Jeff was among those who was eager to get in line to challenge Bolvin (which of course was finally achieved by the sitting delegate). Anyway at that time Jeff was happily married, civically active and advocating victims’ rights with the example of his murdered sister. To some Jeff was a bit “gayish” in his demeanor back then — especially (and ironically) with public displays to eagerly show how much he enjoyed marital (ie, sexual) relations with his wife. Now many years later, that he has gone way out of the closet (after fathering 2 children), those gayish displays during those years do not seem as odd.

this is a photo from last year showing Alberto Gonzales along with a non-lawyer (and probably the only non-lawyer) Asst AG, Regina Brown Schofield, and another DoJ employee, giving Jeff the Ronald Reagan Victims Rights Advocacy Award or whatever it is called…the point here is that, at the same time that Jeff was active in the Fairfax County and Franconia Democratic groups, Regina Brown was the first and only black member (and eventually president) of the Alexandria Young Republicans…now they are meeting a decade later both went on to marry white man (Alexandria YRs knew Regina Brown would only marry a white man or not marry at all)

Are you happy now that you have successfully hurt another person just because of his sexual orientation? Does it make you feel good? Now you can go about your day knowing you did a REALLY important thing for humanity! You took the time to write about another man’s personal life in order to embarrass him and ruin his reputation! It even made the Washington Post! Fantastic! Kudos to you, you wonderful human being! Because, without your type, where would all the hatred and ignorance be in the world? Way to keep it goin’! We have a president who has brought global shame to our nation and agony and depair to hundreds to thousands of individuals in Iraq. Our courageous troops are being brought home in bloody caskets, or hobbling on one leg with half their heads blown off, but the good news is, our president is NOT GAY!!!!!!